Samuel Rudy

TeachesSuzuki & Traditional ViolinViola

EducationM.A. in Music Theory from the University of MinnesotaBachelor of Music in Violin Performance from the University of Minnesota

Faculty BioSam Rudy earned his Master of Arts degree in Music Theory and Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance from the University of Minnesota. Since then he has been active as a teacher and performer of orchestral, solo, and chamber music across the Midwest. He has served as concertmaster of Orchestra Iowa and the Mankato Symphony Orchestra, as well as holding posts with the Quad Cities, Waterloo-Cedar Falls, La Crosse, and South Dakota Symphony Orchestras.

Rudy began his violin studies at age 8 in the Suzuki method with Monica Nieves and Rebecca Lee of the Colorado Springs Philharmonic, and later with Roy Malan of the San Francisco Ballet. At the University of Minnesota he was a pupil of Mark Bjork.

He collaborates regularly with contemporary composers, including a commission from Colin Holter of The Senses Tablecloth, a work for violin and piano. As a founding member of both Lux String Quartet and Enkidu String Quartet, he has worked with professional as well as student composers to perform new works at the Cedar Cultural Center, University of Minnesota, and the New Horizons Music Festival, including performance in a masterclass for internationally renowned Stanford composer Brian Ferneyhough.

Rudy has attended several summer festivals, including the National Orchestral Institute and the Symphony Orchestra Academy of the Pacific, and is a co-founder of the Oskaloosa Chamber Music Festival in Oskaloosa, Iowa. A firm believer in the importance of music education, he has performed frequent programs for elementary and middle school students in Minneapolis and Oskaloosa; as an MPR Class Notes Artist he and Lux String Quartet will continue these programs across the Twin Cities.